‘No UPI Day’ On Gandhi Jayanti: Mobile Retailers Announce Oct 2 Protest Over 0.4% MDR

Mobile phone retailers across India are set to observe October 2 as “No UPI Day” to protest the proposed 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on specified UPI merchant transactions above ₹2,000. The All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) plans to symbolically cover UPI QR codes and stop accepting UPI payments for the day. Retailers say the proposed charge could increase costs and squeeze already-thin margins, while demanding that merchant UPI payments remain zero-MDR. The government has maintained that consumers will not bear the charge and that MDR proceeds will not go to the government. Meanwhile, the new framework, scheduled from October 15, is also facing a Supreme Court challenge.